


A Single Rose Starts It All

by Sup_yall_its_Katt_0v0



Series: Of Fire and Ice [1]
Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Inspired by Art, M/M, Slow Burn, Still bad at tagging sorry yall
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-14
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-21 10:21:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30020301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sup_yall_its_Katt_0v0/pseuds/Sup_yall_its_Katt_0v0
Summary: Another offering party has come and gone, but Kai doesn’t feel like anyone is truly in love with him. This tradition of love and courtship has always been nothing more than an age-old ceremony to Kai. That is until he is given a single blue rose.
Relationships: Kai/Zane (Ninjago)
Series: Of Fire and Ice [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2208366
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	A Single Rose Starts It All

**Author's Note:**

> This story is based on a beautiful piece of art drawn by @hikanaaa on Tumblr, which you can find here :  
> https://hikanaaa.tumblr.com/post/643116062436655104/my-part-for-the-ninjago-valentine-exchange-i  
> Thank you @ninjago-valentine-exchange for putting together this amazing event!

“Are you ready yet!” Nya called out to her brother, who was currently in his room still getting ready, “We don’t have all day bro. There are dozens of eligible people out there waiting for their bachelor.” 

“I’m almost done! Just got to make sure my hair is good,” Kai said.

“If you don’t get your butt out here, I’m going in there and cutting off your hair,” Nay lightly threatened.

“Okay, okay, I’m coming,” Kai said as he entered the haway, “How do I look?”

Kai was dressed in the finest silks and wool. The first layer of petticoats was a fine cream color, while his tunic was that of very dark garnet color. Contrasting black and gold lacing was sporadically placed around his wrists and down his chest. The most superb gold necklaces, chains, rings, and the like from his collection were meticulously polished and placed on his figure. And, to top it all off, a crimson red cloak with gold embellishments was wrapped around his shoulders. All in all, everything balanced out and even made his dark skin glimmer in the right lighting.

“Like you're fashionably late. Come on, everyone is waiting for you,” Nay said as they both headed to the ballroom. 

The gala was filled to the brim with royals, knights, and diplomats of neighboring empires waiting to profess their “love” for the prince’s hand in courtship with lavish gifts. All were lined up on a red carpet that stretched from Kai’s own personal throne to the front courtyard. Speaking of the devil, he finally entered the ballroom and headed straight for the royal seat. 

And that’s when the offering ceremony officially started. Numerous personalities and gifts were presented in front of Kai. Elegant objects would be paired up with empty promises and deceitful eyes; Kai never falling for their tricks. Sure a few cute faces were out there in the crowd, but no one ever left a big enough mark for Kai to consider them as a partner. This ceremony always left a bad taste in Kai’s mouth along with an empty feeling in his heart. Was everyone really just going for his family’s money, titles, and lifestyle?

The ceremony went on without a hitch, but Kai felt like he was sitting at the bottom of a pond looking up into a murky party; physically there, but not really feeling present. And as the last of the guests left, Kai ordered the guards to transfer the offerings to a different room as he too left the ballroom.

* * *

Once he entered his bedroom, Kai proceeded to strip off the multiple layers of smothering garbs. He was the fire elemental, why was it tradition to wear every piece of clothing you own? As Kai finished folding his petticoats, he wet over to his balcony doors to let in some fresh air. But, as he swung open the glass doors he noticed something laying on the ground.

Kai walked over to the marble railing and saw that it was a blue flower with a letter attached to it. He picked up the items and saw that the flower was in fact a dark lapis colored rose; it was in pristine condition and had small sprinkles of frost covering the petals. Was this another gift? Kai thought to himself as he went back inside. 

He placed the flower on his desk and reached for the letter opener. He carefully slid the knife under the wax seal and popped open the envelope. The letter itself was made from a thick stock and was tinted a light blue, it read : 

_Dear Kai_

_I hope you take this frost rose into consideration for your offering ceremony. I know it’s not as luxurious or expensive as the other gifts you will be receiving today. But, I hope that tending to this rose in my personal garden for a few months will serve as a high enough quality._

_Yours Truly,_

_Prince Zane_

Kai could feel a small blush start to heat up his cheeks at the thought of someone taking the time to literally grow an offering for him. But, Kai has never heard of a prince by that name before. Maybe it was from a new territory or second hair? He picked up the envelope and closely looked at the wax seal in hopes of being able to recognize a region. 

“ **Holy shit!** ” Kai did a double-take as he stared long and hard at the Ice Kingdom insignia staring right back at him. If this letter was truly sent from the ice palace, then that could only mean one thing: this gift was from the lost Ice Prince. 

The Ice Kingdom was without an Ice Prince for decades, until two years ago. Kai could remember hearing rumors about villagers on the outskirts of the palace finding a lost man with elemental powers living in the Birchwood Forest. But nothing more had ever come out of the kingdom. The current King, Vex, was known for keeping his domain under lockdown and shrouded in secrecy. But this letter proves that there is an Ice Prince out there and that he was in love with Kai! What was that burning smell? Kai looked over to see that he accidentally set his dresser on fire from all of the exciting news.

“Shit,” Kai hissed as he grabbed the sheets off of his bed to smother out the flame. 

“Hey is everything alright in here Kai?” Dareth, a personal knight to the prince, asked as he entered the room after hearing all of the commotions.

“Yes, yes, everything is fine. Um,” Kai said as he softly grabbed the rose and started to hand it off to the knight, “Can you find something nice to put this in and put it in the center of the offering room for me?”

“I sure can do prince,” Dareth said as he was handed the rose, “Oh, speaking of the offering room, Prince Cole and Prince Jay are waiting for you in the foyer.” 

“Cool, and thanks for doing all of this,” Kai said as Dareth went off to appease the prince; Kai himself went down the many winding hallways and corridors to find his friends.

* * *

Once all three of them entered the room, Kai went straight for the central table with a white vase holding Zane’s flower to sit down and prepare to tell his friends about this new revelation. Jay and Cole took this time to walk about the offering room. 

“Wow, you really made out this year!” Jay said as he quickly scanned through all of the luxurious gifts from around Ninjago piled into the room before letting out a sharp gasp and picking up a small glass box, “Is this a customized Borg watch!?”

Sure enough, inside the box was a one-of-a-kind Borge pocket watch sitting on a velvet red pillow fully opened. With Borge being known for putting days worth of time into his work, this watch was no exception. The whole piece was made of steel, with depictions of fire engraved around the edges. The face of the watch had pieces cut out to display minuscule golden gears ticking away. These kinds of watches were known to go for millions and could last for decades. 

“I like this one,” Cole said as he looked at a redwood record player. The outside had wood engravings of flames dancing to an invisible gust of wind while the edges wrapped in gold. 

“So how’s the pile organized this time? Are all the good gifts on my side? Or…?” Jay asked.

“Well, I wasn't really paying attention when the guards brought in everything. I was trying not to ruin this one gift...” Kai started off, as he fiddled with the ruby red silk table cloth.

“Are you **accepting** someone’s courtship!?” Jay quickly interrupted. 

“Which one is it!” Cole followed up. 

“It’s on the table,” Kai said, stared intensely at the beautiful blue flower; the love letter was safely tucked away in his nightstand. 

“What did you already lose it? ‘Cause I’m not seeing anything except your sister’s antique vase,” Jay said as he tried to seek out the gift. 

“ **The flower, the gift is the flower** ,” Kai said with a dark blush creeping up from his neck to his cheeks. 

“I never took you for being a _romantic_ , Kai,” Cole teased as he leaned forward to get a better look at the rose; the sapphire blue petals were still crisp and pristine even in the sweltering climate. 

“Soooo, who’s the lucky person?” Jay asked.

“It was given to me by that new prince...”

“The lost Ice Prince!” Both elementals exclaimed; Cole’s jaw dropped to the ground, while Jay looked like he was about to fall out of his chair. 

“Yeah?” Kai said in hopes that this was the peak of shock that these two would show. 

Man was he wrong. The floodgates of curiosity burst open, and Kai was bombarded with questions of “What does he look like?”, “What’s his name?”, “Is he still here?”, “Was he really raised by wolves?”, “How was _this_ ” and “What was _that_ ”. 

Kai could feel his blush start to grow along with that familiar flame inside of him burn stronger. The questions kept piling on and on like kindle to a bonfire. The final straw that broke the camel's back came from Jay who was in the middle of asking, “On a scale of 1 to 10 how sexy…” 

“ **I don’t know!** ” Kai barked back, all of his emotions acting like an igniter as the tablecloth clutched between his fingers suddenly burst into flames.

All three princes jumped into action to extinguish the flames. The vase swiveled violently in the center of the table from all the commotion. Everyone froze and watched as the delicate rose quivered before a single blue petal broke off. Cole and Jay held their breath as they watched Kai tenderly pick up the petal. 

“Ugh, I just don’t know what to do,” Kai said as he slammed his head down onto the table, “I don’t know what his guy looks like, or who he even is! This rose along with a note were the only left on my balcony.”

“Well, do you want to go through the whole courtship thing with this guy?” Jay asked.

“...Yes.”

“Then all you have to do is show you accept his gesture of love,” Cole said with a confident and warm smile. 

“Yeah just send him a gift! There’s plenty just laying aroun-ooof,” Jay said as he was roughly elbowed in ribs by Cole. 

“ **Do not give him a regift** ,” Cole said sternly, as Jay softly said ‘I was just trying to lighten up the mood, geeze’, “The Ice Prince’s offering is _thoughtful_. So, your gift back to him should be equivalent to that.”

Kai let the words sink in as he fidgeted with the many rings on his hand. What kind of gift could he give to a prince he doesn’t even know yet? Was this what it felt like to be on the other end of these courting parties? The words from the letter kept ringing in his ears as he looked down at his hands.

That was it! Out of the many gold bands and oval ruby rings, there was one black band with fire opal inlay that had always been special to Kai. He can remember finding it in his mother's collection years ago. The story went that she had found it in an old jewelry shop on one of her journeys through Ninjago and felt a connection to it more powerful than anything she had ever felt before; she would then go on about how it was fate that she picked this ring the same day she met Kai’s father. 

Kai had always thought that the superstition connected to this ring was just that, superstition. But the fire in his soul burned just a little stronger the more he looked down at it and thought about Zane’s love letter. 

“I know what I want to do!” Kai said as he jumped from his chair and grabbed the vase, “Thanks for the advice guys. I need to go put some things together. Oh, and you know how it goes, just take whatever you want from here.”

“Yeah man, no problem at all,” Cole said with a thumbs up. 

“Good luck _lover boy_ ,” Jay said as he went straight for the unwanted pocket watch.

* * *

_Dear Zane_

_I have decided to accept your courtship with an open heart, and I hope this ring shows my commitment to our relationship. The ring was given to me by my mother at a young age and holds a special place in my heart. I hope that this passionate flame in my soul burns brighter as we get to know each other._

_Love,_

_Kai_

“Ha, that wasn’t so hard,” Kai said, ignoring the multiple different crumpled and burned drafts scattered across the floor.

He proceeded to place the letter and ring into a box before wrapping it in white silk and tying it off with a crimson red ribbon. And to top it all off, Kai poured a pinkish-red wax in the center of the bow and stamp the family crest into it. 

With an air of satisfaction, Kai got up from his desk and headed out of his room. He was immediately greeted by the sight of his two knights standing guard. Dareth had a kind soul and a heart of gold. But this needed assignment needs more focus…

“Ronin, I need you to deliver this package to the Ice Prince,” Kai said.

“I’m not your personal delivery service kid, I’m a knight,” Ronin retorted back, not moving from his vigilant stance. 

“I thought you might say that, but this is a very _important_ quest,” Kai said as he pulled out a pouch from his coat and stacked it on top of the gift; Ronin eyed the bribe for just a second before giving in. Sure enough, Ronin checked the pouch to see it packed with gold coins. 

“I’ll personally make sure the Ice Prince is handed this _important_ package, Sir,” Ronin said as he headed out.

* * *

It was only a few days later did Kai receive a reply. But this letter came in the form of a messenger bird. The black falcon almost gave Kai a heart attack when it decided to fly right through an open window in his room. But, the familiar Ice Kingdom seal stamped on the scroll was enough for Kai to know who the beautiful creature belonged to. 

And that’s how it all started, the two princes sending each other poems, valentines, and diary entries to one another. And even though Kai still didn’t have a face to a name, he could feel that internal flame grow stronger with all these sweet nothings, secrets, and kind words scrawled just for him. And that’s how it was for months.

Until one day it became something a little _more_...

**Author's Note:**

> Y’all, I haven't written anything in almost a year and now I come back with this 2,000+ word one-shot/collection??? Don’t worry I’m surprised too. And thank you again @hikanaaa for being the inspiration to this story <3 Hopefully, I can complete this series with riveting tales of romance, hardship, curses, and battles!


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